One of the most significant pieces of legislation ever conceived to tackle forest loss globally is set to be delayed following a period of sustained pressure from commodity-producing countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia.
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The European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which mandates that products derived from beef, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, natural rubber, soy or wood must be deforestation-free to be sold into the EU, was set to take effect on December 30. However, the European Commission (EC) has proposed a draft amendment that will postpone the law for a year.
Indonesia and Malaysia, along with other major agricultural producers such as Brazil, have consistently attacked the EU’s plan, claiming that the EUDR would marginalise smallholder farmers who would be unable to comply.
EUDR requires producers to trace the origin of the commodities in their goods using satellite data and prove that their products were not grown on land deforested after December 2020, or in illegal areas, such as protected nature parks.
The new timeline – which will require sign-off from the European Parliament and 27 member states – would mean that the law will be applicable from 30 December 2025, with an additional 12 months for small enterprises.
The Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) welcomed the announcement, saying “our calls have been listened to”.
GAPKI chairman Eddy Martono said, however, that three key concerns with EUDR remain, which have yet to be resolved – the exclusion of smallholder farmers, support for Indonesia’s national certification schemes, and recognition of the country’s efforts to slow deforestation.
Malaysia’s palm oil lobby group, the Malaysian Palm Oil Council, called the delay ” a victory for common sense” to ensure that supply chains have more time to prepare for the technical and bureaucratic demands of EUDR.
MPOC chief executive, Belvinder Kaur Sron, said that the delay would give European policymakers time to “improve” the regulation, which in her view would mean exempting smallholders, categorising Malaysian palm oil as a “low risk” commodity, and accepting Malaysia’s national certification standard as a compliance tool for EUDR.
Conservation group Mighty Earth said it was “aghast” by the decision taken by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to shelve the bill and accused European policymakers of submitting to agribusiness lobbyists.
The conservation group’s senior policy director, Julian Oram, said that delaying EUDR was like “throwing a fire extinguisher out of the window of a burning building” at a time of record, climate-induced forest fires.
The news emerges amid record forest fires that have devastated the Amazon region and a global tropical deforestation rate of 3.7 million hectares over the last 12 months, the equivalent of losing almost 10 football fields of forest every minute.
Aida Greenbury, sustainability advisor for the Indonesian Smallholders’ Union (SKPS), told Eco-Business that those objecting to EUDR now have enough time to prepare for its implementation by 2025, but many companies and producers, including those from tropical regions, are already prepared for EUDR, so a delay was unnecessary.
She added that support and funding from the EU and corporations to help smallholders comply with the regulation have been “very minimal” to date.
“Ideally the EU should not delay and have all the necessary elements, including support for smallholders, ready by next month. If delayed, those who are already ready with EUDR-compliant products should be prioritised, and systems to support and fund smallholders strengthened,” she said.
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a standard for responsibly grown palm oil, said it will ready for the implementation of EUDR as per the current deadline of 30 December 2024, and will start transitioning to a new digital traceability system that will allow its members to trace EUDR-compliant information through their supply chains next month.
“The RSPO will closely follow the European Commission’s proposal for amending the regulation,” it said.
This story was updated on 3 October, adding comments from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil and Malaysian Palm Oil Council.
